


Treasure hunt

by bucciaratissun



Series: Monster husbands [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Forced Pregnancy, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kidnapping, Obsession, Sacrifice, Stockholm Syndrome, Yandere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:15:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25113772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bucciaratissun/pseuds/bucciaratissun
Summary: No knight would dare to save a sacrificial bride of the dragon.Please consider the tags before reading.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Reader
Series: Monster husbands [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2071155
Comments: 7
Kudos: 222





	1. Chapter 1

When he lowered your body into a little pond, a cloud of blood dissolved into the water. You whined, looking at your wounded legs. They stopped bleeding when you were in the air riding on the flying dragon’s back, but it still hurt too much for you to walk across the cave on your own. You felt the man leaving a gentle kiss on the top of your head while you sobbed.

“You will be alright, my darling.” He cooed in your ear in a soft voice and let the water cover half of your body, soaking your long white nightgown smeared with blood. 

You shivered but stayed where you were. You were thinking of his eyes dark as the twilight sky when he came closer to you, tied to a stake and barely conscious after all the beating you took. You tried to run on the day of sacrifice, and the villagers didn’t take it kindly. They tried to cover your wounds as much as they could, but the dragon only had to lift the hem of your nightgown to see the ugly shackles marks on your skin. He took away the cranberry beads from your neck and saw your chest, all black and blue, smeared with the red juice. Did they think these smashed berries could cover the bloody marks? 

When the dragon in a form of a man lifted his head, you felt an unbearable heat rising in his fiery mouth.

“Fear not, my lady, it’s all being dealt with." 

Although you thought your bones could break if he touched you, he cleaned the cuts and bruises so carefully you barely felt anything at all. Was it his magic? Was the water in this pond charmed? You didn’t want to know.

The man wiped your face tenderly and took off your earrings colored in red, scoffing at the piece of metal in his large palm. Apparently, they didn’t suit his taste - you saw little, but one glance at the treasures he kept hidden in his cave was enough to see the dragon had more precious metals and gems than the King himself. You expected dozens of servants and concubines to meet their rightful owner, too, but there was not a soul around you two. Did they hide? You hoped so. Otherwise it meant the rumors were true - the dragon simply ate all those sacrificial brides given to him. Even if he cared so genuinely about your wounds, maybe it was because he didn’t like to see your bruised skin.

"Ah!” You squeezed your eyes shut. The man above you was covering your cuts with an odd ointment, its smell fresh and somewhat icy.

“We are almost done.” He assured you and left an airy kiss on your knee. “You are so young, my love. You will heal fast.”

You timidly bowed your head at his remark. How old was the dragon? It was too bold of you to ask him that, of course, so you simply kept your mouth shut.

“I am a century older than you.” The golden-haired man said to your suprise, and your eyes widened at his words. “And no, I can’t look inside your mind, my lady, but I am able to read your face. Please, do not be afraid.”

You nodded, too frightened to speak. You remembered villagers running away in agonizing pain, screaming and pleading and cursing; the smell of the burning flesh and wood; the mighty flame devouring everything on its way. Those people had never been kind to you from the moment they seized you a month ago, but you still did not wish to see them dying such a horrible death.

“Do you feel better?" 

It took you a few moments to respond, and you shivered.

"Yes, Your… Your Highness.”

You did not know how to adress someone as mighty as him, and the dragon laughed at your words, making you feel even more humiliated.

“You do not have to call me that, my love. I am Steve, Sarah’s son.” The dragon smiled at you and kissed your knuckles with his soft lips. You were confused and ashamed. This moment felt too intimate. “I mean no harm to you. Whatever people have said to you before, I did not bring you here to kill.”

You stared at him in disbelief. What? Did his words mean the dragon did not want to eat you? Maybe you were supposed to become one of the concubines, then. In the end, if there were many of them hiding somewhere deep in the cave, it could be true. You had never wished to serve any man like that, yet it was still better than to be eaten alive.

“Steve, Sarah’s son.” You mumbled quietly, looking at your drenched nightgown with a sense of deep shame - the white fabric became completely see-through, and you tried to cover yourself with your hands. “T-thank you for…”

It was hard to speak as you trembled in his strong muscular arms, and the man smiled at you, caressing your head as if you were a child. Before you could finish your thought, he lifted you up in the air, caring little about your soaked clothes that got him wet right away. You shut your eyes again, afraid to see where he was taking you and trying to concentrate on your pain instead. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as bad as before - the ointment Steve used was magical, indeed.

Once you realized both of your were up in the air, you held on to him for dear life. You still couldn’t understand how the dragon was able to transform only a part of him - his hands caressing you were still pretty much human. 

You didn’t utter a single word before you landed on something soft and fluffy, your nightgown oddly dry on your skin. As you finally opened your eyes, you saw Steve’s large figure hovering over you and whimpered, balling up on a huge bed high above the ground.

“It pains me to see you like this, sweetheart.” The dragon’s voice was unexpectedly tender. “But I know how terribly those filthy brutes treated you. You are afraid I will do the same…” He became quiet for a few moments, and you gulped, suddenly feeling guilty. “Please know I am here to protect you, my love, from any danger from within. No one will ever hurt you again. You’re safe here.”

Your eyes glimmed with tears at his kind words, and you sobbed, covering your face with a fluffy blanket you found on the bed. He wasn’t going to hurt you, he said. He took care of your wounds and brought you somewhere nice, giving you a chance to rest after all the horrors you went through. You didn’t know whether he was just toying with you, but for now you felt better, laying on a huge bed covered with blankets and furs. 

“I know you would like to have some time alone, but I can’t leave you as of now.” The dragon explained when he lowered himself on the bed. “You will heal better with me close. You can handle it, my lady, can’t you?”

You wished his hot hand was not on your belly as you shivered from his touch, but you kept silent and nodded. Even if you did not want to be close to the man who could burn you to ashes within a minute, you had no right to protest. Maybe you would heal faster just as he said. 

“Sleep now, my love.” Steve pressed his burning lips to your forehead. “It will get better tomorrow.”

You said nothing as he pulled the blanket over you and moved closer. This intimacy with a man was foreign to you, but he did nothing other than holding you in his arms. He didn’t want to hurt or use you. He only kept you safe just as he said before, you tried to assure yourself.

Thinking of his gigantic scaled wings of blue and gold colors, you quickly drifted off to sleep.

____________

The next morning you woke up to the divine smell of fresh fruits and honey, the dragon placing some peculiar dishes right on the bed around you. When you gaped at him, he let out a low chuckle and gave you a wet towel to wipe your sleepy face. He insisted that you ate right after waking up, claiming that your body needed strength - most of your wounds disappeared during the night. Apparently, it was all his magic.

“Try this, my lady.” He easily sliced an odd red fruit with his razor sharp claw. “This one is special.”

“Why?” You asked timidly, but took a piece and saw the white pulp with little black seeds inside it.

“It is called dragon fruit.” He answered, proud. “It tastes like nothing else, believe me.”

You smiled back at the man and took a little bite, feeling something sweet and sour on your tongue. He was right, you had never ever tried anything like that. Snatching more pieces of the fruit from Steve, you started eating them so fast he ended up laughing and rolling over the bed. 

Then he took you to the pond again and gave you your new clothes, a white nightgown embroidered with golden threads and a blue robe, soft as a cloud. Once you changed, Steve showed you around his cave, giving you an opportunity to look at his fabulous treasures - golden and silver coins, gems, jewellery, armour, statues, all those things you had never seen before. He said you could take anything you wanted except for a few magic tools that were unsafe to use. You felt like you were living in a fairytale. 

However, you became frightened again once the dragon told you he had neither servants nor concubines. When you asked what had happened to all those women who were sacrificied earlier, he simply said he took them to the other kingdom far, far away as he had no need for them. But over the seven seas, where women were treated better than here, no one could take them against their will, he claimed, and all of them agreed to leave to start a new life. Did a place like that truly exist?..

“Will you bring me there too?” You whispered, afraid of your own thoughts. 

You didn’t like that look in his eyes. It didn’t sit well with you.

“I do not think it is… wise, my love.” His quiet voice alarmed you. “The women I brought over the seven seas were stronger than you… smarter than you. No one was as fragile, easily broken. Look what had happened when those peasants kidnapped you. You barely stayed alive.”

“But…” Your eyes were glistening with tears again. “… You said women were not treated like posessions there… Why won’t I be safe?”

“Nowhere is safe if you can’t protect yourself even a little. I pray you stay mindful, my lady.”

You had nothing to say, lowering your gaze to your bare feet and clutching the silk fabric of your elaborate nightgown. Although the dragon was right, it was hard to believe now he truly let all those women go. Were you that bad? That feeble he decided to leave you with him? It was unfair. You had the right to decide your own fate even if he considered you weak. 

You didn’t say it, though. He could still burn or eat you alive if you protested against his decisions, you thought. When his claws scraped over your gentle skin, you bit down on your lip and nodded again. 

You were trapped.

“Until I get stronger, who am I here? What do I do?” You whispered, not meeting his gaze, and the man softly caressed the top of your head. “Am I a prisoner?”

“Of course not, my dear.” He shook his head at your words and took your cold hands into his own, his skin so hot it was almost burning. “You are my precious sacrificial bride, my treasure. The only thing I demand from you is obeying me, love. Do what I tell you, and you will always be safe.”

He wrapped his hands around your back and made you lean on him, pressing your head to his wide chest and kissing your temple. There was so much tenderness in his moves it almost made you cry. Why did it have to be like that?

“Can you make me stronger?” You moved your head to look at him and saw his bemused expression.

“Forgive me, my dear, but women like you are not made to overcome hardships of life.” The dragon’s fingers stroked your flushed cheek. “I cannot share my strength with you, I’m afraid. But I can protect you. It is enough, isn’t it?”

You nodded once more, keeping your eyes shut and listening to him breathing slowly. You knew little of how possesive the dragons were once they spotted a treasure they wanted to keep for themselves.


	2. Chapter 2

Stepping on the cold stone floor of the cave, you carefully circled around the mountains of gold and silver and moved forward. Navigating in the dark was incredibly hard, but the soft glow of gems and shining armours here and there helped you to get through. 

You were in your old torn nightgown again, the fancy garments Steve had gifted you laying on the bed along all those necklaces, earrings, cuffs, broches and rings finished with precious stones. You didn’t need any of those as you run towards your way out of the deep cave. The only thing you craved for was your freedom.

Almost tripping over the golden spear, you finally saw the moonlight coming from the entrance of dragon’s dungeon. You held your breathe. You were so close.

In a second you sprinted towards it with gleeful abandon, thinking of the dark night sky, huge fields and mountains surrounding the cave. It was scary to think you would have to fend for yourself from now on, but you were a traveler. You could make it as long as no one tried to seize you like those villagers, now all gone thanks to the dragon’s wrath. You gulped. You prayed he would sleep soundly while you sneak out in the darkness of the night.

A part of you felt guilty for leaving him after everything he had done for you, but being his little pet because he deemed you too feeble to leave was humiliating. Maybe you would find some other way to thank him for his generosity later. As of now, the only thing on your mind was getting away from this place.

You could already feel the slight chill in the air when you got closer to the huge entrance of the cave and rushed towards it, thinking of nothing else but the cool wind blowing outside. Your lips curled when you saw the moon and stars high above you. However, before you stepped on the grass, you felt a push so strong you ended up thrown far back at the rocky floor and yelped in sudden pain - you crushed your elbow, blood seeping from it on the cold stone beneath you. Tears sting at your eyes as you hugged your arm and bit down on your lip to stop screaming.

What was that? What had pushed you so hard it sent you flying? You saw nothing in front of you, no scary creatures guarding the entrance of the prison you were locked in. Yet something didn’t want you leave.

… or rather someone.

In a few moments you heard a distant sound of flapping gaunt wings and stilled. You had awoken the dragon with your cry, and now he was coming for you. You had failed terribly.

His blue eyes were glowing in the dark brighter than gems as he flew to you in his true form, big as a mountain, while you stared at his scaled golden wings with horror. His monstrous shadow covered you from above before he started landing, his gaze disturbing, anxious. A flap of his wings set off a little tornado, and you pressed yourself to the floor in panic. He was going to eat you. Burn you. Make you suffer for your disobedience. You had to stay in the cave instead of opposing his wish to protect you.

You sobbed quietly once the dragon had partly changed his form in haste - although his body was human, his sharp claws and long tale belonged to the dragon, his new appearance strange and frightening. He hurried towards you, his eyes on your blood-stained arm.

“What happened to you, my love?” Steve asked, bending over and reaching for your elbow. “Why did you leave your bed?”

What could you answer? With eyes full of tears, you kept your mouth shut, watching him growing with worry at your silence. You had betrayed his trust. 

“I will heal your wound, stay still.” He sighed when you chewed on your lower lip, afraid to look at him.

The ointment suddenly appeared in his hand as if by magic, and Steve had torn the cotton fabric forcefully to look at the blood seeping from your arm. He said nothing at all as he wiped the wound and applied fresh-smelling balm on your skin. You felt disgusted at yourself: your savior had been so patient and kind, yet you preferred to escape without expressing your gratitude.

“You gave up all the gifts I brought you, my love.” The dragon stated calmly as he finished. “Why? Don’t be silent, sweetheart. I demand you to speak.”

Desperately wiping the tears falling again and again with the back of your hand, you nodded. You could not bring youself to open your mouth.

“Why?” He asked one more time, his eyes the same color as the dark sky again. “Why do you want to leave me, my love? Have I not treated you kindly? Have I not given you everything you wanted?”

“I want to see the night sky.” You muttered under your breathe, looking at the torn hem of your nightgown. “I want to feel the grass under my feet and listen to the chirping of the crickets.”

“You are not my prisoner, sweetheart. I can bring you wherever you want me to.”

A whine rebounded from your chest at his words.

“I don’t want to be a sacrificial lamb.” You sobbed, shaking your head desperately. “I don’t want to be a pet. I don’t want to ask for permission every time I step outside the cave.”

“You are not my _pet._ ” The dragon whipped his huge sharp tail with such force it ruined one of the mountains of gold close to it, and you squeezed your eyes shut, terrified of his temper tantrums. “You are the one I’ve chosen to keep by my side, shield from the dangers of the world and share my treasures with you so you would share yours. Why isn’t it enough? What else do I have to do?”

He pressed his lips together in a thin line, his claws dangerously close to your body as if he were going to sank them in your sensitive flesh and tear you apart. He would kill you, oh he would, you felt it in your bones. 

“I have nothing to give you, Steve, Sarah’s son.” You uttered and finally raised your head to meet his darkened gaze. “And I want nothing from you. Why do you want to keep me? You won’t profit from it.”

His eyes softened at the sight of your flushed face, wet from tears still streaming down your cheeks and chin. You looked so pathetic in front of him in your old nightgown, degraded bloodstains covering once white fabric, yet so beautiful, so lovely it enraged him to think he could lose you despite all his efforts. It bewildered him how fast he had grown used to your calming presence, your smell, your voice. You said you had nothing to give him, but you were so wrong. He wanted you. He wanted to feel you close, see your pretty face, touch your tender body heavy with his child, your breasts full of milk… He wanted you like no other treasure of his. No one but you could give him what he desired the most.

All of a sudden, he jumped at you and covered your trembling shoulders with his callous palms, his hungry mouth devouring yours while you were frozen on the spot. His hot tongue had poked at your lips, and you gave up to him, granting him access and barely recognizing what you were doing. It felt like a shock jolted him, followed by a pleasant tingling, and the dragon slammed his mouth down against yours with a groan.

“You have a lot to give me.” He crooned when you were left gasping for air, astounded and confused. “You have something no one but you can grant me, sweetheart.”

You gasped once his clawed hands cupped your soft belly through the thin cotton fabric, watching the man panting and looming above you. You realized just how wrong you were, thinking of him as your protector, a knight in shining armor while he was exactly who villagers told you he was - a hungry monster craving for his bride’s warm flesh, just in a different way. 

“No, no.” You tried pushing him back, and his sharp tail hit the ground loudly, making you shiver. “P-please, I’m only human. I can’t do it.”

“My mother was human too.” Letting out a chuckle, Steve lowered the nightgown on your shoulders while you desperately clenched the fabric in your arm, your other palm on his chest to prevent him from coming closer. “Why are you afraid? I won’t harm you. In the end, this is the destiny of all women, isn’t it? To become a good wife and mother. Surely, it is better to belong to me rather than any filthy peasant?”

You couldn’t keep arguing, knowing your words would fall in deaf ears, and tried breaking free from his grip only to make the dragon more excited as he climbed on top of you, lifting the hem of your nightgown as his hands trailed upward. His palms were burning your thighs when you whimpered, shaking and moving beneath him like a snake. Why was he doing it? Did he force himself on each and every bride of his and got rid of them later once he got bored?

“Please, please let me go.” You pleaded, feeling him leaving hot kisses down your neck and shoulders, his lips dry but soft. “Let me leave, I beg of you!”

“Oh you can’t leave, sweetheart. You’ve eaten the dragon fruit, remember?” His toothy smile made you feel sick. “Now you are bound to me.”

“Like all of them were?” You yelled in disgust and despair, staring at the dragon’s hollowed blue eyes. “Did you truly let them go as you said? Or did you eat them when you no longer loved them?”

Your words made him laugh as he bared your breasts, ripping the fabric apart with his claws but avoiding touching your skin before his hands fully tranformed into human ones. Dragon’s enourmous tail layed close to you, its razor-edged tip reminding you Steve could kill you within a few seconds.

Then he stroked your wet cheek with his fingers and cooed softly, his gaze darkening at the sight of your angered face. “None of them deserved to stay, sweetheart. I let them go. I don’t know why you insist I eat humans as if I were a lowly beast, but if you’re so eager to see me doing it, I will eat you.”

Your mouth tasted like copper when you bit on your lip too hard, missing the mischievous look in Steve’s bright blue eyes as you flinched from his touch, his tail now pressing you to the cold stony floor. The dragon backed down a bit, and you saw how he hungrily looked at your thighs and belly. He prepared to devour you, tear your flesh apart, and you were to die at his hands for your stubbornness and stupidity. Trembling like a leaf, you shut your eyes, preparing for the end.

Then you winced from a tender touch, Steve caressing your naked mound with his hand lovingly, his eyes watching you intently. What was that? Was he going to sank his teeth into?..

You covered your mouth with your palm as you felt his long wet tongue on your gentle folds. Gods, it would be even more painful than you had ever imagined. This perverted monster wanted to devour your womanhood. But before you could cry out in pain, you suddenly mewled from his pleasurable kitten licks and squirmed, trying to get up to see what the dragon was doing.

“W-wha…”

“I’m sorry, my dear.” Steve smirked, raising his head a bit and pressing a shameless kiss to your mound. “But this is how I like to eat cute little girls like you. So, keep this pretty hand away from your mouth and let me show you how good I can make you feel.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Don’t you dare hurt her!” The boy’s desperate voice cut through the heavy silence, and Steve saw his long scaled tail with a razor-edged tip just like his own. “Step away, or I will burn you to ashes!”

Steve’s son had his face, child’s light blue eyes burning with hatred and pure savagery at the sight of his father, the one who had been chasing him before he was even born. The boy had his golden hair, too, shining in the sun. Everything in his look reminded Steve of himself when he was younger, but he could see your features in the boy’s face, and the way he moved, talked and thought was yours, undoubtedly.

“You are my flesh and blood.” The man whispered, amazed, confused. “Your fire can’t hurt me.”

His son sent him a triumphant smile, baring his sharp teeth, and reached out to his pocket to grab an odd small bottle. Oh, Steve didn’t like it.

“We’ll see about that.”

Once the boy opened the bottle, Steve felt a repulsive scent filling his nostrils. It was the goddamn pyrite potion. Once consumed, it would give his son the power to burn both Heaven and Hell. Gods, how did he learn about the potion? Where did he find it? What did he give in return?

“Run.” Your weak voice made the boy look at you with both fear and sadness, but then Steve saw determination in his face. “I’ll hold him! RUN!”

Your grip on his shoulder became harder, but both of you knew no one could detain Steve here longer - except for his son and the pyrite potion in his clawed hands. His little child was only ten by now, yet he had eyes of a grown man, tired, anxious, desperate. He was well prepared to fight for you, the mother that kept him hidden when Steve roamed the earth, searching for you two for more than a decade.

The deep hatred in his child’s eyes made the man shook.

“You can burn half of your face with that.” The dragon said, pointing to the little bottle carefully with his human finger.

“If it means the world will get rid of _you_ , I’m ready to burn myself, too.”

_______________

Steve woke up with you hovering above him and shaking him by the shoulders in distress. His face was wet - apparently, he had been crying in his sleep, horrified by the pure nightmare he saw, the image of his son drinking the pyrite potion in front of him forever captured in his memory. Looking at your face pale with worry, the dragon wept and snuggled against your round belly. It was all a dream. It did not happen. Yet.

He let out a loud cry and kept his eyes shut while you were caressing his soft hair, afraid to ask for an explanation as he was shaking against your body. You didn’t understand what was happening to him, but he felt too weak to talk.

His own son was ready to kill himself if it meant Steve would stop following him and his mother. His dear little child became so hateful and bitter he wanted nothing else than to see his father’s death.

What had Steve done? How much did he hurt his boy and you to make the both of you hate him to such extent?

He couldn’t bear to think of it.

“It is alright.” You cooed lovingly and pressed his blond head to your bulging belly. “It is alright, dear. You’re safe. I’m here with you.”

Steve felt deeply disgusted at himself, listening to your lovely voice: he was the one whose rile was to keep you safe and sound, and yet he abused you instead, locking you inside his cave, making you do what you were told, forcing you to bear his child. He believed you grew to love him, but was it true? What choice did you have rather than submitting to him?

He had been blind, thinking he could make you love him. Love couldn’t be forced. He had to earn it.

“I’m sorry.” He uttered, afraid to look at you and keeping his eyes shut. “I’m sorry!”

You froze on the spot, unsure of what you just heard. Did he apologize? Why? For what? What did he had to do to apologize for it? You couldn’t remember the last time he said sorry to you, regardless of what he did. He thought he had always been right, always. To think of it, he hadn’t been too cruel to you, but you had never pushed him to. As soon as you realized his power was absolute, you gave up, not willing to risk it. Your first attempt to flee failed because of the dragon fruit you’d eaten the day you met Steve, and all other attempts were worthless as you couldn’t leave the cave without his permission. What else could you do? No magic treasure of his was able to kill him, his scales and ancient dragon charms protecting him fully.

You had to live with it. Thankfully, Steve had treated you kindly once you stopped rebuffing him, even taking you outside with him when he deemed it useful to keep you healthy and content.

What was he saying sorry for, though? You didn’t believe he had finally felt remorse after many months of keeping you with him.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sor…” He kept whispering feverishly until you bended over and kissed the top of his head, concerned with his state. “What have I done? _What have I done?”_

You didn’t know what dark thoughts he harboured, but you were frightened. You had never seen him like that. You wished you knew what he was thinking.

“It’s alright, darling. You’re going to get better.”

“No, no!” He cried softly, kissing your belly over and over again. “It’s all my fault. If it’s going to happen, it’s all my fault.”

Ah, he probably saw something terrible in his sleep. That was it, you thought. Of course, what else did you expect from Steve? He wasn’t human. You doubted he knew what it was like to be trapped against your will, even if you had feelings for him. He had never obeyed anyone and lived free as a jaybird. Steve was the one and only King who ruled over these lands, what could he know about your fears and pain?

“It wasn’t right. What I’ve done… it wasn’t right. I’m sorry, my love, I’m sorry, for I have hurt you.”

Your eyes flew open at his words when you stared at his soft golden hair, running your hand over his lovely locks. Gods, what did he see in that nightmare of his? What had forced these words out of his mouth?

“I should have never made you to stay against your will…” Steve’s cries had finally ceased and he lifted his head, his face red and puffy, blue eyes glowing in the dark. “I have been blind. I… I give you my word, I will not make you stay here any longer.”

“W-what are you saying, Steve?”

Would he let you go? Would he let you return back to people instead of locking you in his dungeon? For the moment you forgot how to breath, watching the dragon with both fear and an odd excitement.

“You said you were travelling before the villagers took you away, didn’t you?” He sounded calmer, but his heated gaze showed he was still agitated as his palms gently brushed against your belly. “Do you want to travel again? Do you want to see the world?”

“Yes!” Your answer was immediate, your eyes sparkling with happiness - he hadn’t seen you so joyful for a long time.

“Then we will leave tomorrow morning.” He whispered and moved up, sitting close to you on your spacious bed high above the ground, furs and blankets all over the bedsheets. “I will take you to the East to show you the most attractable secrets of the Orient. Or would you like to fly up to the South to see the Great Ocean? The Sacred Mountains of the Northen island? Would you want to see the waterfalls of the Acient?”

“Yes! I want to see them all!” Tears of joy filled your eyes, and Steve smiled at you, cupping your face with his hot hands. “Let’s do it, my love! Let’s leave this place for good!”

Then he leaned forward to you and left a tender kiss on your forehead, brushing away your hair. You looked so cheerful, contented, extremely pleased with him like never before. It was so easy to make you happy, yet he had always thought you were happy enough with him in that cave of his, stuffed with all those things you cared little for. Why was he so stuborn? Why had he forgotten what his own mother had taught him when he was a boy? He had forgotten what the true kindness meant.

“‘Tomorrow morning we will leave.” The dragon assured you, leaving little kisses on your face here and there, his eyes welling up. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to ride me as you did when I brought you here, I will make you… a rickshaw! A cart of some kind where you’ll be safe and sound.”

Amazed at his enthusiasm, you burst out laughing and shook your head, wiping away your tears with the back of your hand. You didn’t know what he saw in his dream, but you were ready to keep thanking the gods for eternity for sending the dragon this nightmare. You were free to leave. You could see the world as you had always dreamed, a dragon at your side to protect you and the child growing fast in your belly. You couldn’t pretend you wanted to abandon your own child and the man who, aside from keeping you captive, loved you like no one else did. If only Steve was more perceptive of what he was doing, realizing he might be wrong instead of claiming he always knew what was better for your and the child…

But maybe you had a chance to make him understand now. Maybe from now on everything would be different.

“We need to sleep, sweetheart.” Steve whispered gently, helping you to lay down on the side - your big belly didn’t let you to sleep on your back. “We’ll have a lot to do tomorrow.”

“Yes.” You answered and snuggled closer to him, his breath tickling the top of your head. “Yes, my love. Sweet dreams.”

“Sweet dreams.”

Watching you close to him, Steve let out a loud breath, finally calming down. Yes, it was right. He needed to take you away from this place. He needed to give you the life you always wanted and make you happy so you would never leave his side. He needed to raise his child with affection and care, watching him grow as a boy loved deeply by his parents, not a little fugitive with a heart full of hatred and desire to kill. The boy didn’t deserve a future like this. No one did.

“I will never let it happen.” The dragon whispered after making sure you fell asleep. “The stars of heaven shall fall, but I will never make you suffer this fate.”


End file.
